Battle of Dirschau

The Battle of Dirschau occurred on 17-18 August 1627 during the Polish-Swedish Wars. The battle was inconclusive, and Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus was wounded.

In 1626, the Swedes invaded Pomerania and the Duchy of Prussia, and the Swedes scored a number of successes against King Sigismund III Vasa that year. In October, Crown Field Hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski arrived with Polish reinforcements, and the armies of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and Koniecpolski's Polish army both sought a pitched battle as the Poles advanced on Danzig. They met at the swamp of the Motlawa, and the Swedes opened the battle with a cavalry charge, pushing the Poles back. Koniecpolski counterattacked and forced the Swedes back to their camp, but he was too cautious to attack it. The Poles later decided to withdraw to their own camp, and it was at this point that Gustavus Adolphus ordered his cavalry to charge the retreating Poles. The Poles suffered heavy losses before stopping the Swedish attack, and Koniecpolski's horse was wounded and captured by the Swedes. Mistakenly believing that Koniecpolski was dead, Gustavus Adolphus ordered a final assault the next day. The Swedes shelled the Polish forces and forced them to retreat from their advance positions, but Gustavus Adolphus was wounded by Polish marksmen while leading the Swedish advance. The Swedes decided not to press their assault, and Gustavus Adolphus was put in bed until autumn; the battle was a strategic Polish victory, as Danzig was able to prepare for a Swedish siege. Despite this, Gustavus Adolphus was able to experiment with challenging Poland's famously powerful cavalry and testing his brigade-sized unit reorganization.